"Akane-chan told me she wants to kill you."
"..."
"Umm—!"
"She already tried to kill me."
"We-well, she just told me this a couple of days ago, but she seemed really hesitant about it." Part of it was a lie, but Anri had gotten so worked up over the overheard scuffle that she'd forgotten the sensibility of the little girl's intentions. "I suppose she wants to get stronger or something."
"Well, let her be. It'll do her good to have some motivation."
Huh. He took it better than she'd expected. No surprise given his name to be serene man, peaceful island, even in the midst of silly death threats.
"Also, who is that woman you've—a-and Tanaka-san—been around with?"
"Ah, her name is Vorona. She's my kohai."
"Vorona? She sounds foreign."
"She's Russian. Simon and Denis from Russia Sushi introduced her to us as an extra hand for our line of work, so I've been teaching her the ropes since then."
"... Is she nice?"
Shizuo pondered a bit at her very polite, but wary question. "She's not mean. A little cold, but she ain't bad once you get to know her. She's very knowledgeable in a lot of subjects, and sometimes she even goes on and on about them."
"I see." This Vorona must also be knowledgeable in combat, as Anri had witnessed at the shrine. "Akane-chan also told me she doesn't like her."
"Huh? Why?"
"She said there's something dangerous about her. She thinks that Vorona wants to hurt you."
Hearing those words made Shizuo go blank for a moment, which fretted Anri. He then sighed and face-palmed as he shook his head. "I swear, that girl..." Kids and their imagination was what his tone said.
Note: I've always been bothered by Shizuo's cluelessness to the Vorona vs Akane triangle, so I made sure to have someone spell it out to him. Also, this story may slip into AU-territory later on, since Shizuo & Anri stop interacting after Volume 8. (Though technically the whole story is an AU.)